Puppy Love
by greenikat89
Summary: Squall finds a puppy on his way home from work. Unable to get rid of it, he becomes reluctant friends with the dog and for a while things in his life aren't so bad. Then he gets hurt at work, loses his dog, and discovers a stranger in his bedroom. C/L
1. Finding a Friend

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the characters and I'm making no money from this story.

A/N: This is something I've been thinking about for awhile, and I'm excited to start something new. I know this chapter is a bit short, but I believe that they'll be the usual chapter lengths of my other chaptered Kingdom Hearts stories. I should forewarn you that it will be a super slow process for updates as I'm in the middle of a lot of things at the moment. However, I'm confident that in time it will get finished just like my other two Kingdom Hearts stories _Make a Wish _and _Flavor of Love. _ Enjoy.

Warnings: Fluff, ooc, a/u.

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**Chapter 1: Finding a Friend**

Squall was not in the best of moods. His boss had all but thrown him out of work with the insistence he go home early before he worked himself to death. Squall didn't see anything wrong with having a healthy appreciation for his job, but apparently his surly tempered boss didn't have the same views about working consecutive over-time days. Even if it was for free.

So now Squall was making his way through heavy evening foot traffic trying not to bang his toolbox into anyone's shins while walking home. It made his already moody temper worse, because he was much more used to the empty streets at night when there was no one around. It didn't help that it was raining and he hadn't brought his umbrella with him.

A man knocked into his shoulder without a word and Squall was very tempted to start shoving people back. Instead he took a shortcut back to his one bedroom apartment down a narrow alleyway. It emptied out into the less reputable part of town near the Heartless Projects that was rife with crime and poverty. It also happened to be near his apartment complex, but Squall didn't mind because it was cheap and the gangs tended to leave him alone. He did a lot of free fix ups around the area that the residents appreciated because most of them couldn't afford to pay otherwise.

The rain was coming down harder when he reached Balamb Avenue, and the brunet turned up the collar of his leather jacket to partially shield his face. He needed to get out of the rain before he came down with a cold again, as his friend Tifa insisted and—

His train of thought was broken off by whimpering coming from between two rundown townhouses. Squall's footsteps slowed by the pile of wet rags and soggy cardboard that was piled up against the brick wall. There was something shivering under the pile accompanied by small whimpers that could be heard above the downpour of rain. Against his better judgment the man crouched down and pulled aside the rags to reveal a young, scrawny dog.

"Are you lost, fella?" Squall asked softly. He had a secret soft spot for dogs and this one looked to be abandoned. It wasn't unusual in this neighborhood and he always tried to get them to the pound so they could find a good home. "I won't hurt you," he reassured and reached out to scoop up the dog. "It's all right." Large blue eyes looked at him warily but the dog didn't try to bite him as he picked up the shivering bundle. Squall opened up his coat and covered the dog from the wind and rain before heading home.

It looked like he would be having a guest for the night.

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The brown dog was actually a very bright yellow once Squall had cleaned him off. The fur was still partially wet despite towel drying the pup, and it stood up in odd spikes along his back. The man scratched behind the pup's ear with growing affection. Already the dog had shed its apprehensiveness to show an inquisitive nature to his new surroundings. Not even two hours in and the dog had chewed his bathmat, shredded his curtains, spilled over the potted plant Aerith had given him to track dirt throughout the kitchenette, and pulled out the stuffing in his couch. The dog reminded him a lot of his friend's sister, Yuffie, who was capable of doing similar damage. It was a frightening thought.

"Are you hungry, pup?" Squall asked. The dog was lying under a chair, tongue lolling out of his mouth while he watched him. His black nose twitched and he barked once as if in response. Squall hid a smile and turned towards his cabinets to see if there was anything to eat. A quick look proved to be bare with only a quarter bag of flour and a bottle of hot sauce he couldn't remember buying. The fridge seemed to be in a similar state, but luckily there was an opened can of spaghetti hiding behind the spoiled milk.

Squall threw out the milk, pulling out one of his clean bowls and dumping the spaghetti into it. "Looks like it's Italian tonight." He popped the bowl in the microwave and put it on reheat. He got out another bowl and a shallow dish. The microwave dinged and he pulled out the spaghetti, neatly dividing up the content between the two bowls and setting one on the floor hear his kitchen table. "It's not much, fella, but it'll get you through the night until I can find a good home for you." He placed a shallow bowl of water next to the food before eating his own meal.

The dog crawled out from under the chair and sniffed the spaghetti curiously before sticking out his tongue to lick at it. Apparently it was fine enough cuisine for the pup because he happily dug into it with small snuffling sounds. Every so often the dog would rub up against his leg as if in gratitude for the warm meal.

Squall ate his own meal, every so often dropping a bit of noodles and sauce or half a meatball for the dog. It looked like he needed the food more than him, and he didn't eat that much anyway. He mostly lived on coffee and TV dinners unless Aerith found out about his eating habits and made him take some of her home cooked meals home. He wasn't much of a cook, so he appreciated the meals and bore the woman's well meaning fussing in good humor.

The pup yipped and pushed the cleaned off bowl along the linoleum floors trying to find any other scraps of food. "Sorry pup, there's no more food for you." There wasn't anything left that was edible in his kitchen and he would have to pick up some groceries tomorrow. He didn't have to work anyway because it was Sunday, and he could drop off the pup at Aerith's.

He picked up the cleaned bowl and put it in the sink with the rest of his dishes. He could clean up tomorrow too. He had run out of clean dishes anyway. "Let's get you settled in," Squall murmured and scratched the dog's head. The pup whined and rose up on his hind legs, pawing at Squall's pants. The man rolled his eyes but scooped up the dog in his arms to carry to the bedroom. "Fine, it's only this once anyway." He couldn't resist the bright blue eyes looking up at him mournfully. "But no sleeping on the bed," he told the pup sternly. "I mean it." The dog licked his chin in response and snuggled against his chest with his yellow tail wagging behind him. Squall sighed and resigned himself to sharing a bed with an irresistible pup.

Curse his weakness for animals.


	2. A Change of Heart

**Disclaimer: **I make no profit from this story or its characters.

A/N: Chapter two up for you. There's no suspense in this chapter but I'm looking forward to posting the next one where things get exciting. Thank you for the reviews, alerts, favorites, and PMs. They make me enjoy writing this story to share with everyone.

_Warnings: _Swearing, OOC, fluff.

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**Chapter 2: A Change of Heart**

"Aerith, what do you mean I can't drop him off here?" Squall sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose as if that would alleviate his stress. "This is a habitat for animals; you take them in all the time."

"I'm sorry, Squall. I wish I could do more," Aerith said. She seemed completely serene amidst the eager yipping of puppies playing in their pens, and the yowls of cats that twined around her legs seeking attention. "We're over capacity as it is, and Yuffie is out doing her best to give our animals new homes ever since Perdita gave birth to her litter of puppies last month."

"But I can't – stop that," Squall broke off to admonish the yellow pup playfully tugging on his boot strings. He gently shook his foot, and the pup let go in favor of yapping at an oddly colored pink and purple striped cat who had wandered close by. "Aerith, I can't keep him. I don't know anything about taking care of a puppy."

A loud crash distracted Aerith from answering, and suddenly what seemed like a hundred little Dalmatians came yipping down the hallway in a white and black tidal wave to flood the front of the shop. "Oh dear." Aerith moved around the counter and tried to corral the excited little puppies back into their pen. "Look, Squall I'm a little busy. Why don't you come back tomorrow and I can talk to you then? Yuffie will drop off some pet supplies just for tonight if that will help."

Squall groaned but picked up his tool box, after carefully removing two chittering chipmunks, and headed towards the door. "Well come on then." The pup barked happily, and Squall had to admit it was a little cute when the puppy wiggled out of the black and white puppy pile. "I'll be back tomorrow, Aerith," he called out to the busy woman before he left the shop with his yellow dog in tow.

Thankfully, the construction site he was working at was around the corner from the habitat. Already, he could hear the high whine of drills and the rumble of heavy machinery going about its duty. It really wasn't a place for a puppy, and Squall skeptically looked down at the yellow pup trying his best to keep up with the long strides. He wondered if maybe his cousins Roxas and Sora would take him.

"Squall!" Cid barked out as soon as the brunet rounded the corner. "Yer goddamn late ta work already and - what th' hell is that?" He jerked his thumb towards the puppy who was growling at him with his haunches up.

Squall picked up the yellow pup in an effort to soothe him. "Sorry sir, I found a stray yesterday and Aerith couldn't take him in." He smoothed down the yellow fluffy spikes along the pup's spine. "I promise he won't be here tomorrow."

His boss scowled and chewed on the end of his ever-present cigarette. "The fuck if I care what ya' do, just get yer work done." Cid waved off the pair in a dismissive gesture and slammed the door of his construction trailer shut.

"Be good," Squall told the puppy who had instantly transformed into the playful, carefree dog again as soon as Cid had disappeared. The brunet set the puppy down to go over towards his station to punch in, brows drawn together in a slight frown. A construction sight wasn't the place for a puppy, and he was worried he'd have to keep a careful watch on the dog.

However, Squall was more than surprised when the pup sprawled out under the shady spot cast by a backhoe. He slipped on his hard hat and orange vest, squatting down to ruffle the tuft of blond fur sticking atop the pup's head, before getting to work. Squall used the lift to get up to the third story of the building, half keeping an eye on the puppy down below as he picked his way across the partially constructed floors.

"I thought I'd never see the day when you'd show up to work late," Zack commented. His face was sweat slicked and slightly dirty from moving beams in place to weld them together. "Don't tell me you finally took my advice and started dating again," he teased and moved over on the support beam he was sitting on to allow room for Squall.

"No," Squall responded evenly and set down his toolbox. "I had something to take care of." He looked down below, but the pup hadn't moved much aside from curling up in a ball as if to take a nap.

Zack followed his friend's gaze and broke out into an easy grin. "Aw, I didn't know you got a puppy." He nudged the smaller man with his shoulder. "What's her name?"

"Him," Squall corrected and slipped on his protective goggles. "He's a stray I found yesterday and took him home to get warmed up. And he doesn't have a name."

Zack shot him an outraged look. "Squall, you can't have a dog without a name. That's like…pet owner blasphemy." He waved his hands around as if to articulate his point, almost knocking over Squall's toolbox in the process.

Squall rolled his eyes. Sometimes Zack acted like his hyperactive teenage cousin Axel than the adult he was. "I'm not keeping him, Zack."

"He at least needs a name," Zack said petulantly.

The brunet sighed and set down his power tool. "Fine, what would you name him?" Squall had never been any good at naming things. His mother had given him a stuffed lion when he was very young, and he had named it Leon Leonhart. His friends still teased him about it to this day.

The older man brightened at the prospect of naming something. "I've always wanted a dog, but my parents told me no because Yuffie caused as much destruction as a litter of puppies." He paused and eyed the small sleeping puppy down below. "What about Cloud? He looks like a little puffball."

"Whatever," Squall sighed because it honestly didn't matter because he was just going to take the puppy back tomorrow. He really wanted to get to work before –

There was a loud screeching sound as a megaphone was turned on before Cid's voice yelled across the lot, "Zack and Squall, stop gossipin' like little girls an' get back ta work. Jesus fuckin' Christ!" he broke off in a string of muttered curses, and Squall could only watch as the puppy attacked his boss' leg with sharp little puppy teeth.

It took some fast talking on his part to convince Cid not to fire him or boot the puppy into a cement mixer. There was a big bag of dog food and an array of pet supplies on his front stoop when Squall finally returned home with the pup in tow after working double overtime to appease Cid. Squall tiredly dragged it inside and up the steps to temporarily set it in his kitchen while the mutt danced around it.

"You are nothing but trouble, Cloud," he told the pup sternly and set out a bowl of puppy chow next to the kitchen table. The pup's ears pricked up as if in recognition of the name, although Squall chalked it up to yelling "Cloud no!" all afternoon while he worked. Aerith did say pets understood through repetition.

The pup barked happily, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he snuffled at his food. Squall shook his head and sat down to eat his own food while he flipped through the dog owner's manual Aerith had snuck in amongst the dog toys. He didn't really need it, but he'd finished his other book the librarian, Merlin, had given him. And, well, it wouldn't really hurt to know what to expect for at least the night. Just one night, he told himself sternly while looking into bright blue puppy eyes, because he really couldn't keep a pet. He couldn't.

Squall went to Aerith's the next morning before going to work; he left with another owner's manual and an orange vest clad puppy in tow.


End file.
